Magic, Steam, and Zeros
by finitetime
Summary: I've had this Idea stuck in my head for weeks and I just had to get it out. We've seen familiars get summoned or random people get teleported in and start a revolution. But almost always with just technology and always in Albion. Why not start it in Tristin? Why not with both magic and tech?
1. Chapter 1

Okay this is my first story so please be gentle. This is loosely inspired by Minecrat mods and a little bit of Rise of Legends. But not enough to classifiy it as a crossover I think. The mods in question are thaumcraft and ars magica. I will be changing how something work in each but for the most appearence will remain the same just less blocky. Also I would like to point I don't anything in this story.

Speech

_Thoughts_

_**Spells/chants**_

**Spirits speech**

_**Spirits thought**_

-0-0-0-0-0-

"_Okay Louise. It's time to prove them wrong."_ she thought.

She had riddiculed and insulted since her... promblem with spells became apparent. The laughter, insults, snide comments from not just students either. Sure the teachers weren't as overt about it she saw the looks. But the familer summoning was to be chance to prove them wrong. She would summon a fammiler that would prove she had magic once and for all. Who knows, mayby this one spell may just help fix or figure whats wrong with her magic, or at the very least figure what element concides with.

But even she had to admit pressure on her was massive. She was the last to go and right before her, her rival Kirche ,that red-headed harlot, had summoned a fire salamander! Thats not even mentioning that Tabatha had got wind dragon! If she failed now, she'd never live it down. Although if she failed that be the least of her problems. She would'nt be able to stay if she failed! Plus she war pretty sure she'd be disowned! "_No_." she thought. If she thought like that then she would have already failed.

As she walked to the summoning circle she could already here the jeers and insults. There were even those started the back up and take cove expecting one of her explosive failures. But she ignored it all. Stepping up to the circle pulled out her wand and began to chant.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Meanwhile in another place

A large to 2 story stone house sits next to a river on edge of a large plain at the foot of a mountain. Behind the house lies a path that led to a small mine at the base. In the top middle bedroom ee see a dark haired young man panking away various items seeming for a long trip. But the odd thing was that when he grab some of the larger items, or just about any item really, it would shrink to about palm size before putting it in. Also dispite the bags being only the size of small satchels they never looked over stuffed nomatter howmuch he put in. After packing up everthing stood and took stock of every thing.

"Okay bag of holding,food, water, clothing, building supplies and tools, various philes and jars, spare wands, staves foci, basic thaumaturgy and alchemical tools and aperatus, mechanic tools, black smithing tools, molds, sketchbook, and last but not least my Thaumonomicon. Okay i'm finally ready to go."he said happily.

He then procceed to pack all his bags into a larger bag and slung it over his shoulder and mad one last look around. At first glance the room appeared messy, but a second look show it as a more orrderd chaos. Under the window sat a small bed and nightstand. At the foot rested a now empty chest. 1 side of the room held a oil stained workbench. Slots for tools lay empty and few lost screws and lay on and around it. Another side held another stained table, but there were also burned, melted, corroded, and still smoking spots. Which was odd given that those smoking spots were caused 3 days ago.

As he turned to leave he saw himself in the mirror. He saw his fair skined face half covered by a leather helmet/goggle combo. He wore a green shirt, black pants, black boots and a brown duster. Every now and then arcaninc runes glow dimly on them. On his belt one could see a shortsword on his left hip with a Thaumium capped silverwood wand on the other with a silver revolver below it.

Having wasted enough time he finally left the room and headed downstairs. There we see an old man cleaning up the kitchen. The man wore a simple white shirt with brown pants and shoes. As he came and walked further into the room, the old man saw him, smiled and said "Well today's the big day huh Jack?"

"Yeah. I'm finally going to set out on my own." he said with a sad smile. "I can't thank you enough for taking me on as your apprentice Mathew. I dont know how to repay.

Mathew held up his hand and said "You don't own me anything. All you have to do is use the knowledge I gave you to live a better life." He put his hand down and put on his own somber smile. "When you first walked up to me 5 years ago when I came into town asking me to take you on I almost said no. I'm glad I decided otherwise."

They were quiet for a few moment, each reminiscing of their time together. They then walked to the front door said their final goodbies, and Jack finally left to make a name for himself in the world. Little did he now that while he would make name for himself in the world, just not his world.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Louise coughed along with everyone else from the smoke of her 2nd failure in summoning."Lousie the Zero is right!" she heard someone tease. "Just give up already!"

"Professor Colbert, please," she begged, "you have to let me try again! I'll get it this time I Promise!"

After coughing up the last of the smoke in his lungs Colbert said "Okay Miss Vallerie, but this the last chance."

Louise gulped and got into position and began to chat. She hoped, no, prayed that this time would be a success.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack was still a ways out from the nearest town. He plan to make some there to purchase a reain ticket to the capital or at least a bigger town. As he walked he enjoyed the scenery but keeping and out for any danger. You never know whats going to show up looking for your money or life.

"_**My servant that lies somewhere within the universe**_!" Jack stopped looking for the source of the voice. "_**My beautiful divine wise familiar!**_"__It sounded like a young girls voice but couldn't understand the language. "_**Heed my call from the bottom of my heart!**_" He could sense the magic in the words. He warily put his hand on the hilt of his sword and began backing up. "_**Please come to my side!**_" As he was backing up he faild to see a green portal for behind him. He did sense it though and stopped and turn around just in time for it to reach out and pull him in.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Another explosion, bigger than the was the result of her last chance. Dust and smoke covered the field they were in. Professer Colbert blew it all away with a quick wind spell, revealing that the summon was a success. There sat a young man couging from the previous smoke cloud._ "This was her beautiful, divine, wise familier!?" _she thought He appeared to be nothing but a travaling commoner!

"A commoner Louise? Well I guess it does suit you well." jeered one student. The others laughing after. Some adding their own insults but Louise wasn't listening. She could only stare in disbelief the anger at what she summoned.

"Professor Colbert, please let met try and summon something different." Louise begged.

Colbert said with a stern face "I'm soory miss Valliere but the summon ritual is a sacred thing. One does not get to do it again because they don't like what they got. To do so would be sacrileges and heretical!"

Louise could only huff, square her shoulders and walk over to her familier. She looked at his clothing and saw they were relativly well made. She also the weapons he had. At least her familier looks like it can defend itself. Now to get this over with. She knelt down to him and recited the binding spell. Her familier seemed destracted and disoriented which it to be expected. He finally looked at her as she completed the chant. "_Now the hard part." _she thought. "Consider yourself lucky commoner." she said rudely. Then she kissed quickly on the lips.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack could only stare in bewilderment at the pink haired girl who suddenly kissed him. He little time to ponder this when he felt as if someone was carving something into his right hand. He cried out in pain as he looked down in pain at his hand. His vision swam as he recongnized is a binding mark by the outer edges. As he lost consciousness he saw the arcane symbol for builder.

AN: So what do you think love it hate it? Let me know in the reviews. Constuctive criticisim is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything.

Speech

_Thoughts_

_**Spells/chants**_

**Spirits speech**

_**Spirits thought**_

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Okay it's official, someone up there must hate me or has a sick sense of humor." Jack said ruefully. He had awoken last night to find that he had been summoned as a familier to a pompous girl with pink hair. After being treated as less than dirt he was told to wash her clothes. He, not knowing where he was or what else to do left to so. After spending what must have been 15 looking for an exit he finally found his way outside. Where he saw an extra moon in the sky. He was later found by a maid in the midst of a mini freakout. She managed to calm him down and help him with clothes. While they worked, they fully introduced themselves, her name was Siesta, and she told about how things worked around here. He was suprised to find out all the know countries are mageocracies. By their laws he was tecnically a noble! But he decided to keep his magical abilities to himself for now. Though he did tell her about his homeland and the magical and technological wonders they have. But what she was most interested in was their vesion of government.

You see, his homeland ,called The Empire of Magitek, is a constitutional monarcy with some democratic processes based on merit. Town are governed by mayors picked from the town. Towns are grouped up in provences managed by a duke picked by the county. Provences are grouped up into a region managed by a baron once again picked from the county. Those barons form the council that advises the royal family on the state of the country and make the laws. While the royal family has the final say if a law is passed though. The most amasing thing for Siesta is the fact none of the nobles abuse their position and commoners actually live reasonably well. That's because of the of the Department of Balance efforts to not only find the one who do and punish them, but of suttle additions to schools and society at large against that. To her it seemed like the best place to live.

After they finished talking and working they parted ways. He made his way back to Louise's room, set the clothes down and settled down to sleep. On a pile of hay. That's gonna change if he can help it. The next morning he woke up before dawn and woke up Louise like he, barely, rememberd being told to do. She then proceeded to tell him to dress which his response was no and leaving the room.

Now he waits outside the room for her. He already heard her displeasure through the door. "_This is gonna be a long day._" he thought. He was interrupted from his sulking by a door opening nearby. He could only stare as re beautiful, curvy, red haired girl young woman came out of her room.

"Oh aren't you the commoner that Loise summoned yesterday? You know I'm surprised she sumoned anything at all." she said in a slightly teasing voice. Seeing his qustioning look she explanied Louise's explosive failures. During her explanation he took off his google helmet fully revealing his face. " Oh my! Your quite the handsome one aren't you." she said with intrest.

She had started to get close to him after that. Louise chose the this moment to come out. She did not like what she saw. She proceeded to drag him away hurling insults back at the woman, who he now knew is named Kirche, to the dining room for breakfast.

"I don't what you to have anything to do with that harlot!." she told him venomesly. "She's nothing but trouble!" She ranted about her the rest of the way.

When they finally reached the dining room he couldn't help but be amazed. Seeing this, Louise bragged about the prestige of it and the school in general. They walked to a free spot and he pulled her chair out for her deciding to be courteous. When he started to sit down himself she stopped him. She pointed to his seat. On the floor. His breakfast some grule and stale bread. He looked the tables and saw a feast of what must be some of the finest food available. Oviousely he sat down at the table to eat. Before she could reprimand him morning prayer began and she had to wait. Jack waited as well to eat out of respect.

"What are you doing!?" Loise screeched. "You can't eat there! These seats are reservered for nobles. Your foods there."

"I will not be treated as a dog. There is no way I will eat that pitiful excuse for meal while eat some of the best I've ever seen or tasted in front of me." Jack said in a stern voice. "If you want me eat with you then I eat at the table or I'm leaving".

Loise looked like her head would explode in anger. Before the yelling could start a nearby student spoke up. "Commoner you can't eat here. You should really control your familiar Louise. Although it can only be expected for Zero." he said in the most pompous and smug voice Jack had ever heard. It was the kind of voice where you have the urge to punch the person in the stomach. But Jack was raised better then that. He can just ignore someone like that and he was.

"This does not concern you Guiche." Louise said angrly.

"Oh but it does Louise. This commoner should apologize to his betters. So what say you commoner? Did your whore of a mother not teach you any manners.?

Jack who had been quietly eat stopped at that. That's the only thing he can't condone someone saying to him. He calming put down his utensiles and turned to him. He staired at him for a moment. Then he punched in the throat to stop him from saying a spell befrore slaming his head into the table then trowing him to the floor. Everyone looked on in shock at the sudden attack. Jack ignored them and left the room stepping on the fop on the way out.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Louise Stared in shock at where her familiar exited out from. She decided to leave while she still could and followed. She found him outside looking at the other familiars. Well more like stairing at one in particular. She walked up to him in time to hear him say: "What the hell are you?"

"It's called a bugbear." she said.

"What part of it looks like bug or a bear? It looks more like deformed beholder."

"What's a beholder?" she said in confusion.

"A relativly dangerouse demon. It has one big eye like this one, but it was bigger and war part of head with razor sharp teeth and eyestalks. It could also open portals for other demons to come through."

Louise had a look of horror on her face the thought of such a thing. She shook her dismissing the image. "Why did you attack Guiche like that? Do you know how much trouble you're in!?

"Oh please I can take that pompous asshole." he said dimissively.

Before she could respond Guiche stormed outside looking for then heading straight to them. "You! Commoner! How dare you strike a noble!? I challenge you to a duel!"

Jack grinned at that."I accept. When and where do yo want to do this.?

"Meet me at Vestry Court in 15 minutes." he said smugly. He was sure would win. What happened in the dining hall was both a fluke and a cheap shot. There is no her familiar could win a real fight with a noble. Guiche left while these thoughts were going through her head.

Jack was about to ask where the place was when Louise finally snapped out of shock and grabbed him. "Are you out of your mind!? You got lucky last time but there is no way you can win a direct fight!" she said barely keeping herself from hysterics. "We're going there to right now to aplogize." Her familiar didn't resist. At least he finally realized his mistake.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack let Louise take him to Vestry court because it was easier than getting her to him how to get there. Once they arrived they saw a crowd already forming with Guiche playing up the crowd. Everyone move out of the way to let them get to the center. On the way Jack saw Siesta looking at him in fear and worry at him. Finally reaching the center Jack steped forward quickly and said "Alright jackass let's get this over with." cutting off what ever Louise was going to say.

"Hump! I appluad your courage for not running away commoner. I tell you what, I'll forgive your insolence if you-"

"Will you shut so we can get on with the fight!? You talk waaay to much." Jack said with exasperation.

"You! Fine! I tried to show you mercy but your loss. My runic name is Guiche the Bronze! There for my bronze Valkyrie shall be your opponent!" With that he waved his wand (stylized as a rose of all things) releasing a petal that turned into a ... golem!? Jack had to admit he was impressed. Usually you need a prepared body made out of disired material and core to make golem. But now is not the time to be thinking about this.

The golem charged with a punch ready. Jack just let it get close. When it was close enough he steped forward and to the right quickly drawing his sword onto a quick swing. The speed at which he did this combined at the impressive speed of the golem didn't give it time to stop or corecct itself. The momentum caused the blade to cut the golem in half with ease. Everyone stood in shock at this. Guiche recovered though and quickly and summomed 3 more valkeries. 2 of them had swords the other had a warhammer. Jack just grinned.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Colbert had came to speak Headmaster Osmond (like to be known called Old Osmond) to speak to him about the runes he saw on Louise's familiar's hand. Once translated it said: World Builder. As he was talking to Osmond about the his secretary Miss Longueville came in told him that there was someone fighting Louise's familiar.

Now here he was watching him fight Guiches golems 3on 1. The familiar simply charged the one with warhammer cutting its weapon with ease and cutting partway through it. Quickly he pulled it out blocked an attack from on of the sword wielders. As the other tried to attack from behind the familiar pulled out a large pistol and shot it two times in the head in rapid succesion knock its head off! Then he kicked the final one away and did the same! A pistol firing more than 1 shot with reloading was unheard of. Then the familiar popped a cylindrical part to popped 4 of 8 tubeslike things out and replaced them with 4 more and snaped cylinder back into place. All this took only a few moments and Colbert was pretty sure that was the way and how long it took to reload the gun. While he considering the implications of this Guiche had not been idle.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Guchie couldn't believe this! This commoner was actually holding his own. He was dispatching his golems with such ease it was terrifing. But he did see him reload that gun of his so even though it takes very little tim to do so it can only fire 4 times. If he puts the last of his willpower into making 8 golems he was sure he could win! He did just that and had them charge him. He couldn't lose for he was a noble and he was, while impressive, was still just a commoner.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack had to admit these golems could be quite useful if used properly. But compared to his golems they were pathetic! They're so fragile and weak compared to them it was laughable. Sure with their ease and speed of creation they would make great force mutipliers or at least as a good support. But he was gettingr tired of this. He replaced his sword and revolver and got out his wand and had his fire foci attach itself and the get close before casting. The result was quick and shocking for everyone else. The golems were almost completely melted in seconds. After he was done no one spoke at first. Then Guiche said fearfully "Y-y-your a noble!"

That released the floodgates for everyone else. They were shocked that this whole time he was a noble and they didn't know it. But it did explane his success against Guiche. After all there's no way a plebian could defeat a noble. Right?

"I'm not a noble." Jack said simply. "My home country has a different definition to what a noble is. For one having magic doesn't matter. If you have it great, if you don't oh well. It realy doesn't matter.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Everyone else ws floored. Such a thing goes against all they know. They just didn't know waht to think about this.

With Colbert and Osmand they were more understanding. They've seen and lived long enough to know mages weren't as invicible as they make themselves out to be. Musket fire or blade to the back can kill them just as easily. If commoners attacked suddenly and up close there is not much most can do to stop them. If given a chance they could rule themsevles.

With Louise, she was torn. On one hand she was jealous of her familiar's magic. At the same time she was happy that she did have a powerful familiar. Although she doesn't like the thought of commoners masqurading as nobles but it's pretty much the same as Germania when you think about that.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Well Guiche what's it gonna be. Are you going to surender or do I have to kick the hell out of you." Jack said in a bored voice. Sure it was fun but is wasn't even a good workout.

" I-I surrender." he said glumly.

"Good. Now hand over your all your money."

"What!?" he yelled in surprise.

"You picked a fight and lost. It's your fault for starting stuff with me."

Guiche could only glumly do as he said. As jack looked at the gold coins Louise approched him. "Was that really necessary?" she deadpaned.

"What? He asked for it when he underestimated me. " he said simply. Looking to Guiche," Let this be a lesson to you. If this was a real fight you could be dead right now."

Guiche just nodded. Then 2 girls rush to his side. When they noticed eachother a quick talk revealed he had been two timing. Jack and Louise just walked away ignoring Guiche excuses, pleading, and finally pain fill screams. "We need to talk." Louise said.

"That's gonna have to wait." someone said behind them. Turning around they saw a green haired woman with glasses. Louise reconized her instantly.

"Miss Loungueville! W-what do mean?" she said nervously.

"The Headmaster would like to speak with you."

AN: Okay first fight scene done. Hope it came out okay. Now one thing I forgot to mention there will be refrences to various games ,movies, etc through out the story. They range from names, cameos, dialogue, item, and appeances. Once again not enough I feel to warrent this be a crossover. Now those of wondering where the tech is, its coming. The next chapter will give you an idea for whats coming. Finally please review and tell me what you think. Constuctive critisims welcome


	3. Chapter 3

Okay next chapter ready to go. But first I have to say thanks to the those who favorited and gave generaly gave their support. Also to lordrednight and those who agree with him\her, no thank you. I'll do my best to do these mods note that there will be changes to how things work or look. These changes are for convenience or are for logical reasons. Also if it seems like the story is moving quickly it's because all this is because I want to get out the retread of events and get to the real point of divergence. But enough about that let's get on with the chapter!

I don't own anything.

Speech

_Thoughts_

_**Spells/chants**_

**Spirits speech**

_**Spirits thought**_

-0-0-0-0-0-

When Jack and Louise arrived at Osman's office with miss Longueville they were a little surprised by Coldert's pressence. They seemed to have been in a intence coversation before they arrived. Jack remained relativily calm if a bit wary. For Louise you tell her nervousness was through the roof.

"Here they are Headmaster Osmond." said miss longueville.

"Thank you miss Longueville." he said politly. He had Jack and Louise take a seat before he started to ask Jack qustions. "Now I understand you were in a fight with mister Grammont. Is that correct mister...?"

" Jack Bower and yes that's correct. For the the record he did purposely provoke me then challenge me to a fight. I'll admit I shouldn't have lost my temper like that but he said something I just couldn't let go." said Jack.

"Well I personally don't have a problem with this." he said simply. "From what I saw and heard this whole thing was started by mister Grammont. Hopefully with this defeat mister Grammont will learn some humility. Now on to other things. During the duel you used magic finish it but you say your not a noble. Not only that but say magic isn't a sign of nobility." he said with genuine curiosity. "I must admit I've been around in my years and yet I've never heard of shuch a country. Why, even in Germania where you can buy a noble title, those who do are barely seen as lesser nobles without magic. So I must ask, where you are from?"

Jack was silent for a moment. He wondered if they would even believe them. It's one thing to say you're from a far off land. It's a whole other thing to say your from a different land. In the end he decided to just bite the bullet and do it.

"Well for one you won't find it on a map. That's because I'm from another world. I know this true and I'm not just in some far off land is because we only have 1 moon."

The rest of the room was floored. They never expected this. "Do you have proof of this?" Colbert said with interest.

In responce Jack reached into his duster pulled on a color photo. It showed Jack and Mathew smiling toward the camera, standing on a hill overlooking some plains a little after dark. In the background it's clearly visible that there was only 1 moon. "Is this proof enough?"

"Yes that will do. Can you tell us more about your world?" ask Colbert.

Jack began to tell them starting how magic was discoverd. At first magic was mostly a myth. What few who did practice magic were unrefined and basic in practice. Most of what they did were potions and enchanments. It wasn't until the great mage Azanor did magic really progress. He discovered that magic corresponds to different aspects with 6 being the most basic. He called those aspects the primal aspects. Like their's they had air (Aer), water (Aqua), fire (Ignis), and earth (terra). But instead of void they had order (Ordo) and chaos (Perdito). Other aspects are all combinations of those 6. With further study he figured out how to condence magic in to liquid form which he called vis. He even translated the runes used in enchanments and making his own enchanments and sigils. With this knowledge he created many different spells and creations that greatly improved everyone's lives. Although despite his best efforts he couldn't find a reliable way to give people magic or allow them to fully take advantage of magic items. The ways he disovered to give people magic had just as much to kill them.

Around this time a great inventor named Ada created steam power. Through a lot of trial and error she finally figured out how to use the power of steam under pressure to power various machines. It was first attached to a wheeled cart and used to transport goods between 2 towns. Further advancement saw it being used to generate power lights of his design to being used to power pumps for a water system to even have test for flying machines. There have been some success but they were too short and too low because of the weight of the engine and fuel. But other transportation by train and cars are readily used. She was even designing a machine to pave roads for faster and easier movements.

When they found out about eachother they decided to combine forces and improve their respective fields. Combining these two made inprovments to pretty much everything along with new things. For instance adding featheweight runes allowed for Ada's flying machine to finally fly at a reasonable distance and height. Seeing the way Ada powered her machine gave Azanor the idea to make what he called mana batteries that would provide magical power differenct constucts. They were either shaped like spheres or tubes with rounded ends. Either way the had various runes engraved into the casing with a section that glowed brighter or dimmer depending on how much power they had left. They charged by placing or linking to them in a nexus. A nexus is a circular area marked by a complex sigil with 4 stone totems engraved runes and capped with either quatz or black quartz at each of the cardinal directions. They either pulled in ambient magical from either sun or moon and either stored for later use or sent it to nearby constucts or to conduits for more distance. For Ada she, the idea of making clockwork golems was nothing new but the size of steam engines made the impractical. With mana batteries they became reality. They were used to do dangerous or disgusting jobs while larger ones helped with heavy lifting or constuction. They had even made schools to give people an education along with schools of magic and technology.

It was a great time. Everyone was happy and prosperous. But then the downside of their uncheacked use started to become apparent. The rapid industialization created a lot of pollution that contaminated the water and ground. It also turned out that magic pollutes too which is called flux. When flux fully contaminates something it corrupts and mutates it tuning it into a dangerous monster. What's worse is that corrupted land will spread by itself like a disease. It almost got out of control before a proper defence and a later solution was found. Though the use of spells they were able to purify the corruption. Azanor cam up with the idea make spell cores that when it is givin any kind of energy it cast the spell in question. They used clockwork golems mounted with these cores to safely clean up the corruption. Further study allowed them to counter a repeat of these problems or limit the damage. During the crisis Azanor and Ada organized the surrounding lands to combat the threat. Afterwards everyone wanted them to continue to be in power. With that the Empire of Magitek was born. After explaning the way the way the government worked Jack was finially finished.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Everyone was quite for a while after he finished. For Colbert and Osmond they were contemplating the repercussions of not only a different system of magic but what this technology can mean for everyone. Cobert especialy was interested in the technology because he had already made a small steam engine and was glad to see his predictions of its usefulness were right. Osmond was more interested in the magic. He had been around a long time and thought he had learned just about all the magic there is. He was curious to see what new things there are. Louise on the other hand was more focused on this new system of magic. She may be a failure at their system of magic but maybe she'd have more luck with his. Jack just waited to see what they'd say or do.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Well mr Bower I must admit I'm at a loss at what do in this situation. This had never seen before in a familiar summoning. All that has been summoned before have been animals, nothing else. The fact that you can do magic further complicates matters. We still don't know what your familiar runes do."

That got Jack's attention. He looked down at his hand while saying "You mean it actually does something?" in slight worry. Most of the summonings he's heard of have also been low intelligence creatures and entities as well. Everything else was summoned behind containment runes.

"Yes the familiar rune usally grants basic intellegence boost and like, but sometimes they get other abilities. When we translated your runes they said World Builder but we don't know what means." Colbert said excitedly.

"It actually says Great Inventor. Those symbols are actually from my world. Are runes look similar but have different meanings it seems." He paused looking at the familiar mark. "But I can recognize that this thing does something to a familiar's mind. If I'm reading this right, this thing will make me more docile and obidient to louise." he said angrily. "I know a few things about this sort of thing so I should be able to diable that particular function. But if I can't then I"ll definitely be able to remove it entirely."

"You're going to alter the familiar rune!? Such a thing has never been done!" Louise said in horror.

"What do want me to do? Let this thing make changes to my brain. I don't think so."

"That's fine mr Bower." Said Osmond. "But do be careful. For now we can set you up in room for your self and a place to work if you want."

"He can set up in my workshop. I dont know how much room he need but we could always expand a little if neccesary. If he doesn't mind explaining some of his work with me." said Colbert happily.

"That sounds fine to me. I'll also need to know where I can get extra supplies for later."

"Colbert can tell you about that. If there's nothing else you may go now"

Jack, Louise, and Colbert left after that. Colbert gave directions to his workshop before leaving to clear a space and find a bed for him. Jack and Louise silently walked back to her room. When they arrived Jack collected his things but before he left Louise stopped him.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I'm sure you heard of my failures from my so called peers. When I started the summonig I was hoping for an amazing familiar to shut them up. A familiar is supposed to be a reflection of a mages affinity, skill, and potential and when I appearently summoned a commoner said bad things about me. I was angry and took it out on you and for that I'm sorry." she said with remorse.

"I understand. Your classmates are way out of line."

"I wanted to ask you if you could teach me your magic. I can't seem to do our magic, so maybe I can do yours?"

"Hmm... okay. Come to the workshop when you have time tomorrow and we'll start with the basics and go from there. Maybe we'll do some tests to figure out what why your spells explode like that."

"Thank so much! You don't know how much this means to me."

"No problem." and with that he left. When he arrived at Colbert's workshop he gave it a once over. It looked like a wooden shed the size of a house. Inisde was a large open space with alchemical and mechnical things along the right and back walls. The left side had 2 doors 1 of which was open and he could see some wood piles and what looked to be ore and other materials. The center area had a few half finished inventions and parts. "_Yeah this will do just fine." he thought._

AN: Okay that's chapter 3 done. Yes I know it was mostly exposition but had to be done. Next chapter we see some actual inventions and some magic. Also some allusions to where this story will go. Once again reviews are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay this chapter had to go through rewrites galore before I was happy with it. To once again answer lordrednight's question yes there are other capstones. But for the most part they're just substitutions for what diamonds are used for. But some of the other possible ones aren't used for reason or don't exist. As for the name of Jack's world... there's no official name for it. There are names that various religions from his world give it one but no deciding ones. These things will be visited later. Also the magical crops minecraft mod make an appearance in the story. Other mods both magical and technological will pop up from time to timein the story. That's it for qustions now on with the show.

I don't own anything.

Speech

_Thoughts_

_**Spells/chants**_

**Spirits speech**

_**Spirits thought**_

-0-0-0-0-0-

Colbert had only left for maybe 10 minutes but when got back Jack had already made alot of additions to the workshop. Some additions made sense like tools and the like being placed in different areas and clothing placed on his bed. But that doesn't account for the shear amount of objects nor the large constucts! Sure magic could have been used to help build those but his 1 bag should not have able to fit all the materials. He shook his head and filed hits thought under things he needed to ask him about and began truly taking stock of the changes.

He could see his alchemy table had lot of new equipment, phiales, jars, and a large cauldron. The jars and phiales are placed to the left side of the table. Next to them on the wall is piece of parchment with the picture of a door on it. Now that he looked closer he could see that most of the jars and phials had labels with a single symbole to, what he asumed, marked the contents. To the right was the cauldron filled what looked like water. Underneth it was a stone patch with a bowl shaped indentation for a absent heat source.

In the back right corner was what looked like a strange alter. A squared pedestal was surrounded by a circular sigil with triangular rune etched stone collumns at the edges that went up to about head height to him before they curved downward and toward it. Each totem sat accross from one another at each side of the pedestal. Each collumn tapered into a point and had different color crystal on the end. The colors were red, blue, green, and brown. But what was interesting was the stone rod that floated between them. Each end of the rod had either a quartz crystal or a black quartz crystal on the ends. Between the collumns were more pedestals. Colbert wondered what its purpose was as he turn to see what was on the back wall.

In the center was the worktable that he had brought in, but now it had various tools hanging on small hooks over it. He recognized the hammers but not the others. A open chest sat on the right side of the table. In it he could see gears, nails, springs, and various other metal pieces. On the left saw 2 closed chests, Next to them he saw another piece of parchment with a door on it. Next to that another a piece had a set of stairs leading downwards. In the far left corner was Jack's bed with his bag sitting on top.

Finally on the left side of the room, between the door to the storage room on the right and the washroom on the left, sat a large square construction. Its sides were made out of a dark colored brick and an obsidian frame. It was 7 feet tall and 7 feet wide. On the stone close to where it met the obsidian he runes lining it on all sides. In the front was a set of iron bars with a gap in the middle. Through the bars he could see it was filled with flames and every now and then he thought he could see a form moving around inside. He was standing in front of it looking inside when Jack walked out of the storage room holding a bag.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack had finished placing his extra building supplies in spare crates and organizing them while keeping what he still needed when he saw Colbert looking at the infernal furnace. He walked up to him and explanied " It's called the infernal furnace. Inside is a bound lesser fire spirit. If you put any kind of ore in through the top it will turn it into ingots and spits them out the front. It takes away the before it spits them out so they don't damage anything." He turns to right corner and says "That over there is the arcane infuser. It lives up to it's name can do things such as enchanting to making certain objects. It requires different types of vis nearby and different objects and substances on the pedestals." Turning back to him " I still need to make 3 more thing before we can talk about a couple of addition that would be beneficial." Hebegan to walk outside "I'll just be a minute. But If come with I can answer some questions your bound to have."

Colbert followed him. his first question was "Did you say you bound a fire spirit!? How did you manage that? I thought they were too powerful that."

"Actually only greater spirits and above can't be controled. Regular fire can be coviniced or forced to aid you if you're strong enough. Lesser fire spririts can easily controled because they're weak and don't really have any intellegence."

Colbert seemed thoughtful for a moment. "How did you even build that in such a short time? I was only gone 10 minutes."

Jack hold up his hand for them to stop. Then while stepping away he says "Like this." He takes out his wand and places the foci Equal Trade on the end and uses it to draw a circle in the ground around him. After that he steps out of the circle and taps 4 points around that. The spots he touched glowed along with a bag on his side before the ground was replaced with stone. Then he removed the foci and pulled out 12 stone pieces and 4 quartz crystals. He place 1 of the stone pieces in the center of 1 of the points before stepping back slightly and tapping the piece. The piece enlarged till it was as wide as he is and came up to about waist height. He repeated this 2 more times with stone pieces and once more with a crystal. When finished the crystal topped totem was a head taller then him.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Colbert watched him proceed to the other point and repeat this with interest. He has seen earth mages make stone structures before but they were usually very rough in apperance. Exception being square class mages but only if they took their time. But he has never seen them make stone grow! "How did you do that? How did you make those things grow like that?"

"It just returned to their normal size. You dont have something like that?"

"No. No we do not. Is this that nexus you told us about? The one that take power from the sun?"

"Yes it is." he says matter a factly. After was finished with the totems he began drawing a large sigil in the center. "One I'm done with this one I'll make the one for the moon before we settle down and talk about some additions we need to make and some extra suplies we're going need over a snack."

"What kind of additions are we talking about? I'm only allowed so much land for this workshop."

"Don't worry. It's just 2 small additions. 1 Is for storage of vis and other a place for smeltry/forge. The biggest addition being an underground farm."

Colbert could only look at him in confusion. An underground farm? Sure with magic you can accerate a plant's growth and allow such a thing but the plant must be in fertile ground and have sunlight,water, fresh air for it to work. Jack must have saw his confusion.

"I can make few things that can insure their growth underground. If yor're wondering why such a thing is necessary it's because some of these plants require special care to grow properly. They are required to make certain potions and other substances that are substatutions for others. Also there are the ore plants that, as their name implies, grow various ores."

Now this left Colbert stunned. Plants that grow ore like fruit. He's never heard of such a thing. While he was thinking this Jack finished the sigil. The crystals began to glow along with the sigil that began to also rotate. Jack stood up and moved a short distance way and repeated what he did with the first nexus only with black quartz crystals. As he did so told Colbert about Louise coming over later seeking to either figure out what's wrong with her magic or learn his. Colbert only asked that they did it away from the workshop. He hoped they discovered the problem with Louise's magic but didn't want the the workshop destroyed to do it.

-0-0-0-0-0-

As I finished making the moon nexus went back inside with Colbert. He said he had already asked for some food to be brought to them soon. While we waited I asked him about the countries around here. Though the explanation was a bit long winded he got the gist of what each country was about. Romalia was a religious country with alot of sway with the others. Galia mostly keeps to itself but the king is a bit unpredictible. Albion is in the middle of civil war that the crown is losing to the rebal group called the Reconquestia.. Albion is hostile to Tristian both because of its alliance with the almost by now defunct crown and because it's a weak target compared to the others. Tristian has alway been a small and weak country that relied on deals and alliances to exist. Currently the princess is supposed marry the king of Germania's son to assure an alliance between the 2 countries. The Reconquta's goal to unite the all the countries through war just to fight a war with the elves, who have proven to be far more powerful then them is was foolhardy.

As they were talking Siesta came in some simple sandwiches and tea. She was happy to see him but couldn't stay long because it was a busy day. As she left Louise came in and sat down.

"Hello Louise. I want to ask some questions about what happens when cast. When cast different spells is there any differnce in the explosions? For instance an explosion caused by a fire spell could be more destuctive whlie a wind spell is just loud."

Louise seemed to think for a moment. "I haven't really noticed any difference but I was really focused on that."

"Hmm. Well that we'll just have something to test then. By the way is there any particular subject of my magic that you wish to learn? Thaumaturgy is broken up into 4 areas. The first is Thaumcraft which is the the study, use, and distilation of the various aspects into vis casting spells, and other tasks. Next is Alchemy which is something you already study in school but with a much wider range with a much wider scope with the addition of vis. Then there's Artifice Making which is the creation of magical items and enchanments. Lastly there's Golomancy which is once again something you already know about but with a few differences such as golems being capable of doy a specific task or job without supervision. Each of these fields can be specialized in to greater effect but it's a good idea to get a feel for all of them before you decide. After we get the headmaster's permission we'll start in the morning with tests on your magic. Then we'll do some basic of Thaumcraft until you get the hang of that. It shouldn't be a problem because we'll start with learning about the different aspects first. After that we begin learning some alchemy before having lunch. We can't start on artfice making or golomancy in depth until we get a handle on your magic though. I guess we just go back to tests on your magic. For now I'll go to the headmaster and see about getting you permission to skip your classes and about being able to make some expansions on the workshop. But first I believe we should see about our guests.'"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Tabitha was suprised she was spotted. She was being very careful too. But then again Kirchie wasn't being that stealthy. They glanced at each other and walked inside.

"Tabitha!? Kirchie!?" Louise exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Curious." was all Tabitha said.

"After that amazing duel in which you cast such a powerful fire spell without say a spell we just had to meet you!" gushed Kirchie. She batted her eyes at him "Being a fire mage myself I espicially had to meet such a handsome man such as yourself."

Of course Louise didn't like her tone and made her displeasure known. After stopping their fight Jack explained his magic and a little about his world and went a little more in depth into what each subject. We got to alchemy it really peaked her interest.

"From what I heard you make mostly make health potions and a few other things using alchemy. But we have expanded on that subject and are to create potions that make you immune to fire and heat, allow you to breathe underwater, even cure any illness."

"Any illness?" Tabitha said becoming alittle hopefull. You see what she hasn't told anyone not even Kirche was that she was technically a princess, her real name being Charlotte Helene Orleans de Gallia, but her title had pretty much been stolen from her by her uncle Joseph. After her father, the king, died he atempted to poison her but poisoned her mother, the queen, instead when she purposely drank it instead. The poison drove her completly insane and with her like that and and Tabitha much too young Joseph became king. Once he accended the throne he and other high ranking nobles decided to, instead of killing her out right, send her out extreamly dangerous missions so she would die in a way that wouldn,t look like they usurped the throne. Although she survived time and time again she realized that is only a matter of time before she made a mistake and died or they decided to juct kill her. If that Jack could actually make a potion to cure her mother then Joseph would have to give up the throne. But she knew he wouldn't and would rather start civil war and stay in power. Once she got her mother back the both of them could either run away our fight to get their country back.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Louise was also intersted in this cure all potion for her older sister Cattleya. You see she was born with an illness that left her with a weak body and over all poor health. She always the kindest to her and really everyone. She did have another older sister named Eleonore who was very strict with her but she could tell she really cared. Her parents on the other hand she really didn't know. But with Jacks help she could possibly cure her sister and finally be able to use magic.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Kirche found Jack very intersting. He's from another world, has a different kind of magic, and this ... technology talked about wasn' t bad either, and to top it off he was handsome. He much better than that old fart they're trying to marry her off to back home. If he starts to teach this magic to everyone and introduce technology then things were going to get real interesting it Tristain soon. She was wondering what she would do once she finished school. She didn't want to go home and be married to a man more twice her age but she really didn't have anywhere else to go. But with a whole new branch of magic and maybe technology being taught then maybe she can delay getting back home for a bit longer.

-0-0-0-0-0-

We he confirmed Tabitha's question he was surprised by both of them also requesting he teach them. He had only finshed his traning himself after all had needed to decide if he could handle this and how. But seeing Colbert he realized that with him being a teacher he could help him with deciding on the best way to go about with the idea he just got. "Okay change of plans. Girls and gentleman" he said a litle theactically "I believe that I have an idea."

AN: Okay I'm not kidding about the rewites but I would be lying if I said there wasn't any procrastinating with a little writer's block. But I'm past that now so let's address some last minute reviews. First up Bluedragon312 you did give me some good ideas. Now I realize now that there are stories where revolutions start in Tristain and why it doesn't happen often. But I disagree on no one wanting change. The nobles may not but the commoners do. They just don't want be treated like playthings and cattle by nobility. The may more or less love Henrietta but the other noble not so much for their mistreatment while she actually cares. But what you're forgetting is that Jack lived in a monarchy as well and liked it. The changes that he'll make once he meets Henrietta mostly be cultural, scientifical, and technological. The most socialogiacl change is to create laws that give commoners some basic rights and protections and a way to enforce them. Plus there are some very good reasons why these changes must be made. Some nobles won't really like this and will cause problems as you can imagine. As for Louise I mostly agree with you about her personality but, at least in my mind, her behaviour, at least when it comes to the "Nobles are the greatest" part, is kind of justified. Whith her magic the way it is the only thing that gives her any self worth is the fact she is a noble. The greater nobles are ther greater she is. As for the Tsundere behaviour well I'm mostly going to avoid that for now. As for Tabitha's and Kirche's backstory well let's just say they will play a part later. Finally the "Follow Canon Exclusively" curse will start to break as the story progresses. Now PEJP Bengtzone V2 I'll assume that you mean other races by meta-humans or things like vampires and the like. Well the answer is yes to both. The Empire did meet the nomadic Pechs a couple of years after it's formation. They still do tend to move around alot but now acting as traders and explorers. Although some do settle down as merchants and inn/tavern owners. As for vampires and stuff weelll remember how taint mutates people? Well those who didn't quite get enough to either die or go feral come out changed. They either have control over specific elements or substances, have strange abilities such as being able to read and control minds, being able to shapsehift, or being changed phisically. Well that's it. Thank you to all those who likeed,faved, and reviewed. Please review and tell me what think it helps motivate me.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own anything.

Speech

_Thoughts_

_**Spells/chants**_

**Spirits speech**

_**Spirits thought**_

-0-0-0-0-0-

Osmond was was lost in thought about Jack's suggestion. He wanted to not only teach classes on his magic and technology but invite commoners to take the class on their free time. While he personally had no problems he knew that the students, teachers, and parents will. He was well respected for his age and power but even that had it's limits. He needed permission of the crown before he can make such a decision. But first...

"I'll allow time off from miss Valliere's lessons to see if you can help her with her magic. But miss Zerbst and miss Tabitha will have to seek you out on their own time after lessons. I'll even allow the extentions to the workshop. But I have to be honest with you mister Bower I can't allow you teach an entire class at this time. I need permission from the crown to allow it. I can reccomend you and get you an audience to convence them to do it but if they accept or not is up to you. My advice is to make some examples of your magic and technology and have them made by the of the month. You see the princess and alot of high ranking nobles are comming to see the familar exibition where the second years show of their familars by having do something to show off their abilities. You should use this opportunity to show off what you can do and it will greatly inprove your chances of them agreeing."

Jack considered it a moment. "Okay I'll do that. I think I have some ideas as to what I can do but do you have any suggestions?"

"Well..." Colbert said. "maybe a demonstration of your golems, spells, weapons, or examples of town improvments? They key will be to find something that will completly convince the crown that they have to have this."

"Hmmm. The golems will be a little difficult to prove I'm not controlling them. I can make a large spell foci and place it into something like a cannon. The more military minded would love that. I could also make a genorator and power some lights and 1 to move a vehicle it show off their versatility in use I can really get their support."

Osmond nodded his head. "That sounds like some good ideas. I wish you the best of luck." He ment it too. He's seen how nobles treat commoners and dosen't like what he sees. They think that just because they have magic and they don't that commoners can't possibly beat them. He's been around long enough to realize that is far from the truth. In a straight up fight that's more or less true but beyond that not so much. They could easily slip a dagger in their back when they don't expect it or poison their food. With the way polictics are they don't even have to kill them. Commoner's directly in employ to a noble could have their lord's secrets be made public to their peers and have them socialy dead which to a lot of nobles might as well be really dead. As Jack left he really hoped that what ever changes he made cause too many problems. He too old for that.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack spent the next few days designing and building the new extentions and getting those set up while helping Louise with magic. He hired some of the staff to build the rooms for the forge and alchemical/vis storage and distilation. He got the forge up and running first so he can start the process of making the various metal parts necessary for the exibition and to make the water heater to pay for the help from the staff on their free time. It was mostly the female staff that wanted that. When then male staff started to object the women slienced them a glare. He did promise to make them something next month though.

While he was doing that he had Colbert convince some earth mages dig out and reinforce the basement. It covered the same area as the floor of the workshop with it only being 15 feet deep. He sectioned it off into 3 sections. 1 for the ore plants, another for the special plants for alchemy, and the last 1 for crystal growth. To be honest only the the terra crystals will grow well by themselves down there. Each type of crystal grows best when in an enviroment that matches their element. Like terra crystals being underground or aer crystals being high up. They'll all grow either way though just much more slowly unless givin extra vis as if your watering them.

The alchemy room was finished last as a relatively low priority. First he had to set up the alchemical furnace and alembics. The furnace breaking down what ever was inside into the aspecs that make it up sending up to the alembics. The alembics then separate and distill them into vis which is then sent through special tubes to labeled warded jars for storage. If there is no more room the compound aspecs are sent to sent to an alchemical centrifuge and is broken down into its component parts and sent to their respective jars. If those are full the process repeats until the primal aspec jars, which have the biggest storage, are full then it's sent to void pipes which send to the infinite emptiness of the void for disposal. This prevents vis from escaping into the air as flux and causing problems. When he explanied this to Colbert and Louise they were a little shocked and appaled at the sacred void being used as a dumping ground.

Speaking of Louise, testing of her magic began after everything was set up. The tests for wether or not focusing on a specific form of magic would have an effect did indeed have one. The explosive spells change based on what kind of magic to pumped into it. Effects such as fire being more destuctive, air beindbright and loud more than anything, earth would knock you off your feet and stun you for a bit but nothing else, and water at first didin't seem to do anything untill after a few casts it was noticed that some nearby were wilting plants before are had perked up abit so a quick test with a cut proved it be a healing explosive of all things. They couldn't test a void pumped speel at first because Louise refused saying it was impossible because only the Founder Brimir had been the only one to use that magic. So they decided to drop that and move on to next tests that would refine her explosions so she could control their size and strengh.

After the test they had lunch brought once again by Siesta who could stick around for a while. Just as they finished Tabitha and Kirchie arrived having a little free time before their last 2 classes to see if he would have time for lessons today later on which he did. Shortly there after for their class along with Siesta to her duties. Jack and Louise decided to take a break from lessons so he could work on his project until the others got there so he didn't have to repeat himself. While he worked Louise went back to her room to collect a few things and rest a little. Jack himself decided to make the large spell foci, which he decided on being the Shock spell, to make his cannon in the arcane infuser by placing a crystal ball, etched with runes, in the center and giving it some arr, potentia, and precantatio vis. It takes a little while so he left it alone while he finished the molds he would need to make the parts for the cannon and the engine along with the boiler and pipes for the water heater. He plans to make more things for himself but he wanted get the important things out of the way first. Once the girls and Colbert arrived he he started teaching them about the various aspecs then gave them a basic introduction into the main areas of thaumcraft.

And so that was how the month went, which was realativly uneventful. After a little over a week had finished and installed the water heater for the staff but when the nobles found they demanded their own. He requested payment which was happily given. He finished the cannon realtivly quickly givin its simple design. It had the appearance of a regular cannon but slimmer by about half. The side had various runes and sigils that covered the entirty of the barrel. The back had a slot where a mana battery would be placed and it also opened to reveal the spell foci which could be swapped for a different one or replaced if damaged form over use. The first engine, that was to be made into a generator to power the lights, was almost done at 2 weeks but still had a few parts left to be made. Jack had decided to convert an old carriage to serve as the body for his example vehicle. He had to seal off part of the interior to seperate the it from the engine he was going to put in the back making it a bit smaller inside but not uncomfortably so. Once he was done with the generator he would start in earnest on it.

All in all everything was going well. At this rate he would finish everything for exibition with a couple ady to spare. While he was sure it would go over well he had to wonder how they would react to technology in general when he explanied all of it in detail. Well he'd just have to cross that bridge when comes to it.

-0-0-0-0-0-

An: Okay not much happened in this chapter I know. This chap was filler/timeskip. The next one will be more interesting.


End file.
